PhD studentship at the University of Bath and HP Labs Bristol

Applications are invited for a PhD studentship funded by the Engineering and 
Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of the Cityware project. 
This is a major collaborative project investigating mobile and pervasive 
systems and urban design.  Project partners include the University of Bath, 
Imperial College London, The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment at 
UCL, HP Labs, Vodafone, Nokia, IBM, Node and Bath & North-East Somerset 
Council.

The PhD student will be based at the University of Bath and at HP Labs 
Bristol.  The PhD research will focus on trust as a major concern of the 
users of mobile and pervasive systems in urban environments.  The work will 
first deepen our understanding of trust- and risk-related issues in urban 
social and public spaces, and investigate user requirements, perceptions and 
reasoning about trust involving both peer-to-peer interactions and 
interactions with networked services.  This study will draw on and add to 
what is known in psychology, sociology, and urban design and architecture. 
The analysis will consider how trust relates, for different types of user, 
to factors such as social acceptability and convenience.

This trust analysis, combined with a threat analysis developed by a 
collaborating researcher, will lead into the development of techniques for 
securing users of mobile and pervasive systems against attacks on security 
and privacy.  This will lead to design implications for spaces, 
architectural features, devices, and services and to new security protocols 
for mobile and pervasive systems.  These developments will be tested in a 
range of applications developed with the project partners.

The student will be jointly supervised by Dr Eamonn O’Neill (Computer 
Science) and Dr Danae Stanton Fraser (Psychology) from the University of 
Bath and by Dr Tim Kindberg from HP Labs.  The student will divide his/her 
time between the University and HP Labs.  The student will work closely with 
a post-doctoral Research Associate who will also spend time at both sites. 
In addition, there will be significant interaction and collaboration with 
the other project partners, both academic and industrial.  The ideal 
candidate will have a good first degree or MSc in a relevant subject (e.g. 
Psychology, Computer Science, Economics, Sociology or a Design discipline) 
and a strong interest in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with mobile and 
pervasive systems.

Applications should be made by 20 March 2006.  The PhD will start as soon as 
possible, ideally immediately.  Potential applicants are welcome to contact 
Eamonn O’Neill for informal discussions or enquiries, either by phone (01225 
383216) or email ([log in to unmask]).  The Cityware website is at 
http://www.cityware.org.uk/.  General information about studying for a PhD 
at Bath, including an application form, is available at: 
http://www.bath.ac.uk/grad-office/


--
Dr Eamonn O'Neill
Director of Postgraduate Research Studies
Department of Computer Science
University of Bath
Bath BA2 7AY
UK

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Ph: +44 (0)1225 383216 

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